A Bit Like Feta

This is a cross post from my cheese blog, Little Green Cheese.  This Feta turned out so well that I just had to share it again.

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Feta style cheese is so easy to make, and only needs 4 litres of milk instead of the normal 8 that I use for a harder type cheese.  With minimal stirring after cutting the curd, and a pressing of only 4 hours, what is not to like about this cheese.  Here is a batch that I made last week.

I don’t use a normal press, with this two litre milk bottle filled with water serving as the weight.  It doesn’t need much pressure to form the block.  The curds starts off in both moulds, then at the two hour mark, they have shrunk enough for me to squish them together in a single mould forming one block.  If you look closely you can see the join line.

Once pressed, I make up a strong brine by adding half a cup of salt to two litres of the left over whey, and a quarter of a cup of white vinegar.  This was the first time that I had used the whey as the base for the brine, and found that it worked very well and it improved the final flavour of the cheese.

I let is soak in the brine for two days before cutting it in half, and storing it in two smaller containers that fit in the fridge.  I use the same brine to keep the divided cheese moist.

The finished product is a firm, crumbly, yet creamy feta that can be stored for at least 6 months in this manner.  It is great crumbled on top of pizza or cubed into a Greek salad with lots of home preserved black olives!

It is just so simple to make and took me 3 hours from start to press, then about 15 minutes with the brine and putting it in the fridge to mature.  If you want the full recipe, check out this post titled “Feta – Video tutorial“.  Enjoy.